As had been rumored by Wolverine Liberation Army more than a month ago, Class of 2009 Michigan commit Denard Robinson has left Michigan’s recruiting class, and will indeed enroll at the University of Florida. He cited fan negativity on the internet as one of the primary reasons for his change of heart. It is unclear whether, as a signee of Michigan, he will have to sit out a year before becoming eligible at Florida.
Robinson recently wowed Michigan fans by running the 100-meter dash in 10.44 seconds, the 2nd-fastest time for a high schooler yet this year. However, instead of taking that speed to Michigan’s quarterback position, he now intends to head to the defensive secondary of the Gators. Florida and Michigan were his final two choices on Signing Day 2009, and he chose the Wolverines over the Gators, citing a desire to play with his friend, Adrian Witty (Witty, a high school teammate who played with Robinson on the same team in high school, could not be reached for comment), as well as the chance to prove himself as a signal-caller.
The Wolverines now only have two scholarship quarterbacks on the fall roster, one of whom is David Cone. Current rumors have them approaching Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor as a transfer candidate, which they consider a “trade up” for the departure of Justin Boren. Another possibility is Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young, who left the University of Texas after the 2005 season with one year of eligibility remaining.
I swear, I’m really trying to avoid doing these posts with any regularity.
Ricky Barnum has sprained his ankle, and will miss a few spring practices to get wrist surgery. His wrist was (apparently) pretty damaged, and he was working through it before. While it sucks that he’s sustained another injury, at least it gave him the opportunity to get the wrist taken care of.
Denard Robinson has claimed the 2nd-fastest 100m dash time in the country so far this year for high-schoolers. The incoming QB ran a 10.44 time, and expects to run in the 10.3s when track season gets underway in earnest. (Photo by Tom Ervin for the Miami Herald).
Devin Gardner plans to publicly commit to Michigan either Thursday or Friday. He apparently did so silently at junior day, but wanted to finish out his basketball season before worrying about dealing with the press.
Darryl Stonum has debunked the rumors that he’s intending to transfer from Michigan at the end of spring practice.
VB (Paul and Tim, at least) plans to be at todays 3:05 PM baseball game at the Fish. Feel free to say hello to us.
And, in site news: If you take a look at the top of the right sidebar, the subscription options have changed slightly. You can still subscribe via RSS, but there are now other possibilities. There is now an official VB Twitter account to which you can subscribe @VarsityBlue. You can subscribe via e-mail, which will inform you whenever there is a new front page post on Varsity Blue. And, perhaps what we’re most excited about, we’re going to start rolling out a VB Newsletter, which we’ll send out once a week (you can help us determine which day when you sign up), and will include a recap of the week’s action on Varsity Blue, along with a bit of information that may not have made it to the front page, and even a preview of what is coming in the next week. It might start out a little spartan in design (no pun intended), but we’ll be beefing it up in short order.
In other site news, we plan to debut a couple new features on VB in the coming weeks, though they’re not quite ready for public consumption yet. I’ll keep you posted when everything is ready to go live.
TX RB/Slot Tony Drake, who received an offer and committed immediately. Tony Drake Commitment Post. Jim Stefani posted an information dump on Drake, from which these are the highlights, translated into coherent thoughts:
Overshadowed by several D-I prospects at Skyline, including receivers Mike Davis (LSU) and Joe Powell (Oklahoma), but a legit big-time talent with 4.4 speed. Projects as a slotback in college. Drake combined for 605 rushing and receiving yards as a sophomore, and averaged 10.5 yards per touch. As a sophomore starter at WR he was a second team All-district choice and had 260 yards receiving, combined for 605 rushing and receiving yards, and averaged 10.5 yards per touch.. As a junior back-up RB to senior James White ([3-star] Iowa State signee), he was second on the team in rushing with 55 carries for 429 yards (7.8ypc) and 3 TDs.He added 7 receptions for 73 yards.
JimStefaniLook for Devin Gardner to offically go public to Michigan in the next 10 days
That was Friday, so keep an eye out in the next few days. Gardner said he would be announcing as soon as basketball ended, and his team lost 63-56 to Patrick Lucas-Perry (yes, that Lucas-Perry)’s Flint Powers team over the weekend. Thus, the announcement should come any time now.
SoFlaFootball brings the recruiting fluff on FL QB Stephen Morris (he recently got his first offer, from FIU). Also, Morris’s junior highlights:
While we’re on the topic of QB recruits, FL QB Christian Green is favoring Florida State (this is not earth-shattering news, so much as common knowledge by this point. However, he does say that he wants to play in a spread offense. Conventional wisdom also has him wanting to play WR, not QB, at the next level.
After stating in no uncertain terms that Michigan would be getting an official visit from him, SC RB Marcus Lattimore has released a top 10 list, which does indeed include Michigan. It also includes Georgia, Florida State, LSU, Auburn, South Carolina, Clemson, Maryland, North Carolina, and Duke. He has also stated that his Michigan official will be for The Game on November 21.
GA WR Tai-ler Jones, a teammate of QB target Blake Sims, has narrowed his list of potential choices to 7:
“I made a top seven. It’s Ohio State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Cal, UCLA, North Carolina and Stanford. I wanted to name a top five, but I just felt like I couldn’t decide which two to cut. So I decided on a top seven.”
No Michigan. With a decision coming by the end of April, the Wolverines don’t have much time to get back in on him, so he’s been removed from the board. Unclear whether this will have any effect on Michigan’s pursuit of Sims.
Added to the board because he’s been offered (info in header): NJ OL Jake Kaufman.
MN OL Seantrel Henderson still has to be considered a longshot for Michigan to land, but he “was especially impressed” with his unofficial visit last weekend.
Josh Helmholdt sees your fluff, and raises with more fluff, Mr. Webb. I’d still consider the Wolverines a heavy underdog to land MI DE William Gholston, but they’ve been able to make some progress in recruiting him. As Helmholdt says in the Free Press, he’s been on campus a lot lately, and has seemed to really like Greg Robinson, particularly the “spinner” position, which would fit his skill set perfectly. Gholston does not plan to make an early decision, which is probably good for Michigan. The longer he waits, the more opportunities he’ll have to visit Michigan’s campus, realize Mark Dantonio is a douchebag, see that 2008 was an aberration, not a trend, etc.
IL DE Chance Carter, long thought to be a Notre Dame lock anyway, has eliminated all but four schools from the running for his services: Notre Dame, Stanford, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. With an early commitment pending (he plans to decide by May), Michigan doesn’t have much of a shot to get into this one, and I’ve removed him from the board.
Sam Webb’s weekly recruiting column in the Detroit News focused on TX LB Caleb Lavey this time around (particularly, his dad’s having been an equipment manager in the 70s). Lavey, who recently visited Ann Arbor and enjoyed himself greatly, grew up a Michigan fan (pictured at left touring the Michigan locker room in 2002, at approximately 10 years old), and is carrying the Robert Tate Forcier Memorial Chilhood Michigan Fandom Picture torch for the class of 2010. With Michigan having offered few linebackers to this point, and Lavey one of them, I’d assume that he is one of their top LB prospects, and perhaps the one with whom they have the best chance this early in the process. He’s currently in the process of unofficially visiting just about every school in America, so don’t expect him to make a decision until the summer. For personal info on Caleb (including his schedule of visits), you can always check out his website.
Gholston photo by Matt Pargoff for the Detroit Free Press, Lavey photo from a family collection.
Compare to the previous edition of the recruiting class rankings. The Scout 300 has been released, so a bunch of prospects achieved or changed ratings.
3-26-09 Michigan gains commitment from Tony Drake.
#1 Ohio State – 4 commits
Name
Pos
Rivals
Scout
ESPN
Andrew Norwell
OL
****
*****
NR
Jamel Turner
DE
****
*****
NR
JT Moore
DE
****
NR
NR
David Durham
LB
NR
NR
NR
No change in the Scout rankings for OSU’s commits..
#2 Notre Dame – 3 commits
Name
Pos
Rivals
Scout
ESPN
Chris Martin
DE
*****
*****
NR
Christian Lombard
OL
NR
****
NR
Daniel Smith
WR
NR
****
NR
Lombard knocked down to a 4-star by Scout.
#3 Michigan – 6 commits
Name
Pos
Rivals
Scout
ESPN
Ricardo Miller
WR
****
****
NR
Jerald Robinson
WR
****
****
NR
Jeremy Jackson
WR
NR
NR
NR
DJ Williamson
WR
NR
NR
NR
Antonio Kinard
LB
NR
NR
NR
Tony Drake
RB
NR
NR
NR
Robinson picks up a 4-star ranking from Scout. Surprising that none of Michigan’s other commits have been evaluated yet (mostly Jackson, who was considered to be a very likely 4-star, what with very early Florida and LSU offers). Commit-in-waiting Devin Gardner is a 4-star to both sites.
#4 Penn State – 2 commits
Name
Pos
Rivals
Scout
ESPN
Paul Jones
QB
****
*****
NR
Mike Hull
LB
****
****
NR
Jones picks up a 5th star from Scout. This is… surprising based on what I’ve heard about him.
#5 Minnesota – 3 commits
Name
Pos
Rivals
Scout
ESPN
Jimmy Gjere
OL
****
****
NR
Konrad Zagzebski
LB
NR
***
NR
Antoine Lewis
WR
NR
NR
NR
Lamonte Edwards
Ath
NR
NR
NR
Scout drops a 3-star ranking on LB Konrad Zagzebski.
#6 Michigan State – 1 commit
Name
Pos.
Rivals
Scout
ESPN
Max Bullough
LB
****
****
NR
Bullough gets 4 stars from Scout.
#7 Illinois – 1 commit
Name
Pos.
Rivals
Scout
ESPN
Corey Cooper
CB
NR
****
NR
Rivals and Scout disagree on Cooper’s position (Scout says he’s a WR). Without further research, I’ll continue trusting what Rivals says.
A series exploring the commitments (and subsequent decommitments) of Michigan’s lost members of the class of 2009.
The Commitment
Michigan fans knew about McNeal for quite some time before he committed. He was offered in March, and the Wolverines quickly moved near the top of the list, along with the in-state Gophers. After being invited to participate in the Army All-American game, McNeal stated that would like to announce his final decision at that time. However, Michigan fans were given an early present when he committed on May 1st… or were they? He later came out and said he had not in fact committed to the Wolverines (though most fans believe that a silent commitment was given at that time). Within a few weeks though, on the verge of a visit to Ann Arbor, Bryce made a public commitment to Michigan.
The Decommitment
Over the summer, McNeal made some comments to the effect that he would like to take some visits to schools other than Michigan. The coaching staff, understandably, wasn’t so keen on this idea, and quickly informed him that, if he were to remain committed to Michigan, this was not an option. However, when October rolled around, he reiterated his desire to go on other campus officials, and thus began the souring of his relationship with the Wolverines’ coaching staff. He officially decommitted from Michigan on October 16th, and opened up the recruiting process to other schools.
The Impact
In the end, McNeal got what he wanted all along: an official commitment at the Army All-American game, in which he chose Clemson. Michigan obviously wanted to hold onto McNeal’s commitment, hence the restrictions on his being able to visit elsewhere, but he wasn’t such an important recruit that they just let him do whatever he want in terms of visits, while still remaining committed to the Wolverines (as they were willing to do with William Campbell, before his “decommitment”). McNeal’s spot in the class was filled by Je’Ron Stokes, a more highly-rated guy, and the rest is history.
The third annual post in which I approximate the baseline and potential of each Michigan commit for the Class of ’09. Of course, it goes without saying that these are estimates, and don’t take into account any extenuating circumstances (i.e. transferring to Arkansas/Ohio State, etc).
Ceilings and floors are on a different scale from each other (yes, this is different than past years, and I probably should have said something about it the first time around, since it’s no longer a strict “floor/ceiling” measure). Floor is a 1-5 scale of readiness to play right away, while ceiling is a 1-5 scale of overall potential.
Tate is as well-coached at the QB position as any prospect in the country. Rich Rodriguez thought he was ready enough to play immediately that he didn’t beg Steven Threet to stay. His ceiling, on the other hand, is somewhat limited. He doesn’t have ideal height, and questions about his arm strength persist, though we won’t know for sure until he hits the field. As of now, his potential could be enough to get him to the NFL, but it would be a mild upset, at the least.
What if Robinson can’t throw all that well? Hell, what if he can’t run all that well? His stats in high school weren’t as impressive as you’d think for a guy who was so highly-recruited (of course, many were recruiting him as an athlete), so perhaps he isnt’ as ready to play as he may need to be. In terms of ceiling, part of me says “not tall, weak-ish arm,” but the other part counters with a very convincing “Pat White clone.”
Maybe it’s because I saw him in person, and maybe it’s because of his impressive video and stats, but I really think Toussaint has what it takes to be a star. His current physical buildup is more solid than a lot of people realize, and should be able to contribute shortly after arriving on campus. He has great speed, balance, and vision, and plays a more physical game than several people as short as he is.
Smith comes from a very successful program and has enrolled early. Those two factors should mean he is ready to play right away. He is a speed back who doesn’t have elite speed, and he is just a tiny little guy, so his upside may be limited.
His readiness to play might be quite low, as he didn’t even start as a high school junior, and might need to move to a different position when he hits campus. However, his upside is good, as the fastest 40-yard time at the Army Junior Combine has to mean something.
Switching from high school QB may require an adjustment, but he also plays some wideout and running back, which may help out a bit. He’s a little guy, so he may need to bulk up to avoid injury. As far as potential, he has great balance and legendary ability to avoid tackles in the open field. A lack of top end speed prevents him from being very highly-rated.
Je’Ron Stokes
WR
3
4
Stokes was a starter on one of the Army All-American teams for a reason, so he should be ready to play. Learning multiple wideout positions (split end and slot) will slow down his process getting onto the field. I don’t see him as having elite size for the wideout position, or optimal shiftiness for the slot position, so his potential might be slightly lower than hoped.
Gordon has a reputation as a heck of an athlete who isn’t yet a football player. He’ll get a run at wide receiver, where he may be a step slow, but his better potential is at linebacker, where hopefully he won’t hesitate to bring the physicality that his 6-3 frame is capable of.
Lewan has great measurables for offensive tackle, and an admirable mean streak. However, he’s only been an offensive lineman for one year, and he played defensive tackle his entire high school career before that. Once he has time in a strength program and a bit of coaching from Frey, one of the best in the business, the sky is the limit for Lewan.
Quinton Washington
OL
4
4
Washington was a multi-year starter for a dominant program in South Carolina, which is a pretty good high school football state. He should be as ready to play immediately as any offensive lineman. Of course, that still means a redshirt in nearly every case.
Schofield has good size and a decent attitude towards blocking, but like every offensive lineman, he’ll need a year to gain size and strength. His video is not nearly as impressive as that of the other two freshman OLs, and while he may end up starting in the future, he doesn’t have “Future All-Conference” written all over him like the other two have the potential to accomplish.
The comparison for Campbell coming out of Cass Tech was to former Wolverine Gabe Watson, which explains both the floor and ceiling numbers. When motivated, Watson could be a truly dominating defensive lineman. However, it was getting him motivated that was the issue. I’d like to think Campbell is a little more mature mentally than Watson (though who really knows?), and that this staff has a better ability to motivate. Having a starting spot all-but-assured as a true freshman might not force him to work his ass off like he might need to.
LaLota has only been playing football for a little more than one year, so he wont be as able to play as many other players, and he’ll almost certainly redshirt to mold his body and learn some technique. Enrolling early should help him a bit. As far as potential, he has very good measurables for the position, and if he can learn as well as he should be able to, he’ll be pretty good down the road.
Roh isn’t quite ready to play this year, because he’s very light for a defensive lineman, but he may get some spot duty in the Memorial Wasted Redshirt position. He has an unorthodox style, but good technique, and with his speed and quickness on his feet (spin move is awesome), he should have the ability to be stellar once he builds up his body.
A tiny guy out of high school, who, despite enrolling early, has a lot of bulking up to do. Even then, he’s a sub-6-foot linebacker. Even if he has very good speed, it’s hard to imaagine him being an all-purpose backer, rather than a pass-rush or pass-coverage specialist.
He’s a high school safety who needs to learn a new position in college. That alone will require a likely redshirt year, and he’ll need to adjust his body pretty significantly to be able to play at the next level. Once he’s acclimated though, he’ll be a very speedy linebacker, with the skills to cover the pass better than most of the players Michigan has now.
A similar situation to Bell. His body isn’t quite as naturally big as Isaiah’s, but he also has enrolled early to go through the Michigan weight training program. He’s coming off a series of nagging injuries his senior year, so he might take some time to get back into game shape. After that, he was a little more highly-rated than Bell, but that may be mostly by virtue of where he’s from.
He missed much of his junior year with an injury, and isn’t even sure if he’ll be able to go through spring practice at full speed. Hopefully, once that gets worked out, he’ll be able to return to his ball-hawking safety ways.
He is a short guy with non-blazing speed. That doesn’t bode well for his long-term potential, but he’s certainly capable of surprising me. As far as his floor, he’s only played safety for one year, and the former high school quarterback will have to continue learning a new position when he comes into college.
A tall defensive back who still has the hips and feet to play corner is a very rare thing, indeed. He acquitted himself well in the Army All-American Game (despite giving up a TD), so he’ll probably be fairly ready to play right away. Down the road, fans are expected to see Charles Woodson, but would, say Marlin Jackson be soimeone you turn away for not being C-Wood?
Adrian Witty
CB
1
3
A little guy who missed his entire senior year with a knee injury probably is not going to come into a BCS-level program and contribute right away. Even after that, Witty doesn’t have great height (listed as short as 5-8), and the only thing really keeping his potential afloat is the state,ent by his high scl coach that he was faster than Robinson before his knee injury.
Paul is attending the Rich Rodriguez press conference currently underway, and sending me updates to relay. Check back as I update this post with new information.
Nick Sheridan has suffered a non-displaced fracture of his leg that will not require surgery. He will be out 4-6 weeks, and will be back with the team in time for summer workouts.
To help deal with the dwindling numbers at the QB position, Justin Feagin (QB last year, slot this spring) will continue taking snaps at the quarterback position in Spring Practice.
End relevant information. Paul will update with video shortly.
Per both premium sites, Michigan has received a commitment from RB Tony Drake out of Dallas’s powerhouse Skyline High School. Drake is a little guy (5-8, 160) and could end up at either RB or slot.
Recruiting Notes
Drake’s recruitment moved quickly, to say the least. Most Michigan fans hadn’t heard of him before today. However, Rich Rodriguez and company had, and after evaluating his film, they offered Drake, who accepted almost immediately.
Player Notes
As mentioned above, Drake is a little guy (listed anywhere between 5-6 and 5-9), and with his skill set and size, he could excel as either a quarkback or a slot receiver in the Michigan offense. His measurables call to mind Jeremy Gallon, though Gallon was more proven at the time of his commitment last year, having been a multi-year starter at QB for Apopka, whereas Drake has been on the bench for Skyline, behind James White (3* Iowa State commit in the class of 2009), and second-leading rusher QB Chris Frazier (a 2* who signed with SMU). He finished the year with 429 yards on 55 carries (7.8 ypc) and 3 touchdowns. Receiving, he had 7 receptions for 73 yards (10.4 ypc).
Etc.
Drake is a high school teammate of Scout/Rivals 4* LB Corey Nelson. Though he hasn’t shown the Wolverines much interest yet, Drake’s commitment might help them get their foot in the door with Nelson.
Video
Photo by Milton Hinnant of the Dallas Morning News.
An intrepid Bleacher Report author has gotten his hands on “leaked information” (read: has probably posted something he read on a premium message board) that Nick Sheridan and David Cone both sustained injuries during practice yesterday, though it’s unclear how long they’re out (if each does indeed have a broken bone, it’ll probably be until the end of spring).
This is obviously bad for several reasons, most notably because it leaves Tate Forcier as the only QB on the roster who was deemed worthy of a scholarship offer out of high school. The only other QB who took snaps in practice Saturday was #18, deemed not even important enough to have his name on the spring roster.
I foresee Justin Feagin, Carlos Brown, Terrence Robinson, et al probably getting a few more reps at QB than they were planning on this spring, if only because there are practically no breathing bodies left.
EDIT: I should probably note (though it’s obvious from no link) that there is no confirmation of this from a free source.
UPDATE: Someone from the football program (presumably Coach Rodriguez) is going to be holding a press conference tomorrow presumably to address the injury rumors. Team coverage and whatnot forthcoming.
A series exploring the commitments (and subsequent decommitments) of Michigan’s lost members of the class of 2009.
The Commitment DeQuinta Jones may be in a dead heat with Pearlie Graves for the “most spectacularly-named decommit award,” but he runs away with the “weirdest commit story” consolation prize. The first Michigan fans even heard Jones’s name was when he committed to the Wolverines out of the blue while he was at LSU’s summer camp. After a few days of bickering between the premium sites (TheWolverine said he was committed, GoBlueWolverine insisted that it wasn’t a done deal – of course when it was revealed that he did indeed commit, GBW “broke” the story and claimed they were the first on the scene – nice integrity, guys), Jones was considered by all to be verbally committed to the Wolverines.
The Decommitment
Jones was nominally committed to the Wolverines up until the end, though later in the process, Michigan was lucky to be counted among his top 5. Jones opened up towards the end of the summer, taking visits to various schools in the Southeast. Even bringing Jones on campus a week and a half before Signing Day couldn’t firm up his commitment. On Signing Day, he switched from Michigan to Arkansas, and sent the Razorbacks his letter of intent.
The Impact
Jones was the more highly-rated of Michigan’s two lost defensive tackles, and considering the need along the D-line, this was a big loss for Michigan. Jones’s recruitment also shined a light on the annoying inability of high school seniors to understand the word “commitment.” I understand that you want to reserve your spot at some school, any school, but if Michigan is barely hanging on in your top group of schools, you are “committed” to them, you’re “considering” them. If that’s the case, giving an official decommitment would be the more honest approach to your recruitment. Of course, with the coaches of all the pursuers aware of the situation, it’s more frustrating for fans than anyone.
Denard Robinson has claimed the 
DeQuinta Jones may be in a dead heat with Pearlie Graves for the “most spectacularly-named decommit award,” but he runs away with the “weirdest commit story” consolation prize. The first Michigan fans even heard Jones’s name was when he committed to the Wolverines out of the blue while he was at LSU’s summer camp. After a few days of bickering between the premium sites (TheWolverine said he was committed, GoBlueWolverine insisted that it wasn’t a done deal – of course when it was revealed that he did indeed commit, GBW “broke” the story and claimed they were the first on the scene – nice integrity, guys), Jones was considered by all to be verbally committed to the Wolverines.